The consumer price index rose by 11.3% YoY in January, state agency Statistics Estonia reported.
The month-on-month change between December 2021 and January stood at -0.1%.
Statistics Estonia leading analyst Viktoria Trasanov said that government measures curbing energy prices, and an overall fall in electricity prices at the beginning of the year compared with the record levels set at the end of 2021, exerted the most influence on the CPI, along with rises in food prices and clothing and footwear.
Trasanov said: “The main reason for lower prices of electricity and pipeline gas is the government decision to put a price cap on these and set the volumes sold at capped prices. In addition, in January, electricity was cheaper than in December 2021.”
Compared with January 2021, the CPI was affected the most by housing-related expenditures, which contributed more than 40% of the total rise.
Electricity reaching households was 52.6% more expensive in January, while the figures for district heating and for natural gas were 42.5% and 79.6% respectively.
Overall in January, goods were 9% pricier and services 16% more expensive. Both transport and food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed a fifth of the index rise. Petrol became 23.2% and diesel fuel 26.2% more expensive.
Among food products, the biggest price increases compared with January 2021 were recorded for potatoes (+106.6%), fresh vegetables (+30.7%) and fresh fish (+28.2%).
As the consumption patterns of the population and prices continuously change, Statistics Estonia updates the weights system of the CPI and the representative goods each year.
Starting from January index, the base prices used for calculations are the prices of December 2021.
To ensure comparability with previous periods, Statistics Estonia will base published CPI on 1997 = 100. (ERR/Business World Magazine)